Outrider have recently been working on some Cyber Security related board material with particular focus on distilling what is a quite complicated and dynamic field into some clear business principles.
At a recent cyber fintech presentation Outrider attended it was made clear there are some significant challenges facing businesses in the Cyber security domain:
- too much reliance on too few when addressing Cyber hygiene requirements
- a lack of skilled cyber resources at a industry level
- an investment imbalance in cyber (with banks making most of the spend in the cyber sector)
- a lack of board literacy on cyber issues
The Cyber industry has been working for some time, with a significant amount of government support, to highlight its emerging relevance and to try and put mechanisms in place to drive business engagement and innovation. Some challenges remain and have become evident to Outrider over the Christmas period.
- what is the agreed industry definition for cyber security?
- does the language/jargon of IT security need an overhaul to make it more accessible?
- as an outsider how is it possible to make sense of all the advice on offer separate tactical from strategic considerations
Much good work is happening in this space but the sheer scale, complexity and specificity of the material involved makes getting a toe hold extremely challenging for business operators who don't have some level of domain expertise.